The present invention is directed toward a method, system, and vessel for use in controlling and displacing objects and substances on or in water, such as for oil spill control and contaminant control purposes.
With the larger oil tankers of today great quantities of thick black crude oil can be released into the water should the oil tanker experience an accident. Moreover, off-shore drilling platforms sometime malfunction and this may result in the loss of oil. Accordingly, up to several million gallons of crude oil can spread over the water. Currents can carry the contaminating oil out to sea and to hundreds of miles of coastline. Oil spills can produce devastating damage to coastlines, fisheries and kill tens of thousands of animals.
Oil is not easy to clean up as can be evidenced by recent disasters. Moreover, it is important to start cleaning up a spill immediately before the oil has a chance to spread.
There have been numerous proposals to recover oil from a spill on the water. One approach is to use chemical dispersents which break down the oil into tiny pieces. However, there is a body of evidence to suggest that such dispersents may harm ocean life. Other approaches include using booms which are floating sausage-like members with skirts that hang a few feet below the surface. They can be towed by ships to corral the pancake-like floating oil. Subsequently, skimmer devices then collect the oil by sucking or scooping it up.
Exemplary of other known prior art approaches include those described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,251,330; 3,688,506; 3,684,095; 4,182,679; 3,693,801; 4,209,400; 3,730,346; 3,771,662; 4,223,625; 3,844,944; 4,356,086; 3,847,816; 4,146,477; 4,388,188; 4,116,833; 4,818,399; 3,722,688; 3,847,816; 4,139,470; 4,142,972; 4,356,086; 3,836,004; 4,388,188; 4,510,054 4,133,765; 4,669,972 and 3,970,556. As noted, an oil spill is subject to currents and sometimes the oil will move toward the open ocean which makes its recovery by known skimmer devices difficult because of wave action, particularly with rolling seas. In situations where there are several million gallons of spilled oil, the heretofore known devices used are inadequate. Unfortunately, present human efforts will generally get rid of about 10 percent of the oil from an oil spill.
A significant improvement over the prior art approaches is described in applicant's above noted patent application. Basically, these approaches disclose an improved method of and system including a surface vessel for expeditiously removing floating contaminant from the surface of a body of water. Accordingly, there is provided an improved arrangement whereby the contaminant collecting device is maintained in the skimming position of the intake during ship movement despite rolling seas. By virtue of the large capacity pumps utilized in the suction system vast quantities of oil/water are pumped to a separation reservoir within the body of the ship. As a result large quantities of oil may be rapidly and efficiently separated. Despite the significant advantages offered by the above noted invention, there is, nevertheless, a continuing desire to improve thereupon.
It is also desired to displace or clear the bottom of various bodies of water, such as channels and the like. Typically, this is done with mechanical dredging implements including hydraulic pumps which dredge material, such as sand-and-gravel for land-reclamation work. The usual type of hydraulic dredge has a digging ladder suspended from a bow of the vessel at an angle of 45.degree. for a maximum digging depth. The ladder carries a suction pipe and cutter with its driving machinery. The material excavated by the cutter enters the mouth of the suction pipe and the material is sucked up by a suction pump and discharged towards the shoreline. In some situations several pumps are placed in series to effectuate the dredging operation. It will be appreciated that the foregoing technique is rather complicated and expensive to set up and operate. Moreover, known operating procedures, such as described, for clearing and maintaining channels are time consuming to set up and operate. Thus, there is a continuing desire to improve upon known approaches for clearing and maintaining channels and the like. Moreover, there is no known method, system or apparatus useful for providing not only oil spill control, but effective for clearing bodies of water of objects and substances.